The United Nations

Youth Advocate Program International

4546 42
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St. NW, Suite 209
Washington DC, 10016, USA
www.yapi.org
What is a human right?

Who is considered a child?

What rights do you think you should have as
a child?

Do children all over the world have their
rights protected?

Have your rights ever been violated? How
did you feel?

Who makes international laws? Who
enforces them?

Have you ever heard of the CRC?
What do you know?
Source: RUGMARK Foundation
Childrens rights are violated throughout the world
every day
Basic Facts
Between 15 and 20 million children
are working as slaves at this
moment.
An estimated 2 million children
worldwide are sexually exploited
every year.
300,000 children around the world
are actively participating in more
than 20 armed conflicts.
An estimated 25 million children and adolescents are
currently uprooted from their homes; they make up nearly
half of the refugee population worldwide.

There are an estimated 100 million children living on the
streets today.


The Convention on the Rights of the Child
recognizes each one of these practices as a violation of human
rights, and obliges each government to work toward
eliminating these practices within their own nation and
throughout the world.
Basic Facts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUer_ZA4sJs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMmEQ45l3eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdISzV9Ifao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U
To establish and support the international system.

To provide legal rules to resolve multi-national disputes.

To help maintain peace internationally.
Why Do We Have International Laws?
A convention is a specific type of
international law. It is an agreement or
compact, especially among nations,
usually created within an international
organization such as the United
Nations.

Countries must..
1. Sign
2. Ratify
3. Monitor and Enforce the treaty
What is a Convention?
The CRC is a treaty that lays out the rights of
children and the standards to which all
governments must aspire in order to promote
these rights.
What is the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
The best interests of the child are always the primary
consideration.

A child should be protected against all forms of
discrimination and punishment.

A child has the right to survival and development.

A child should be protected from abuse and neglect.

A child has the right to education, housing, healthcare, and
all forms of mental and physical well-being.
Basics of the CRC
Name and Nationality

Freedom of Expression

Freedom of Association

Education

Leisure, Recreation, and
Cultural Activities
What are your rights?
Child Labor

Drug Abuse

Sexual Exploitation

Sale, Trafficking and Abduction

Torture and Deprivation of Liberty

Armed Conflicts
Additional Protections Under the CRC
1. Countries sign the CRC.

2. Countries ratify the CRC.

3. Countries rights widely known.

4. Committee on the Rights of the
Child.

5. Committee reviews reports
submitted by States Parties
two years after ratification, and
every 5 years thereafter.
6. States Parties make rights
widely known.

7. Committee proposes special
studies etc. to be undertaken
in the countries.

8. All countries help each other
implement the Convention.
Enforcing the CRC
The US is not in
compliance with the
treaty.

Fear of infringement on
states rights.

Fear of interference in
parental child rearing.
The CRC and the USA
Why hasnt the United States ratified the CRC?
What if the USA ratified
the CRC?
Greater priority of
childrens rights in the
United States and the
world

Quality education and
healthcare guaranteed

Influence the childrens
rights in other countries
What has happened?
In 1995 Madeline
Albright signed the
CRC on behalf of
President Clinton


We still need to
approve the CRC State
Department and Senate
approval, and a
presidential signature
The CRC and the USA
What rights does the CRC provide children?

How important do you think it is for the government to protect
specifically the rights of its children?

What have you learned about your own rights?

Are there any rights that you think should be added to the CRC?

If so many countries have signed the CRC, why are childrens
rights still being violated?

If you were in the United Nations, what would be your most
important goal for childrens rights?

Recap and Discussion
Educate yourself about the CRC.

Contact local, state, and national politicians
Write letters asking them to ratify the CRC.

Talk to your parents about the CRC.
Educate the adults in your life!

Advocate for awareness of the CRC.
Begin a social awareness/ human
rights club.
What Can You Do?
Full Text of the CRC
www.unicef.org/crc/fulltext.htm

Campaign for the US Ratification
of the CRC
www.childrightscampaign.org

UNICEF
www.unicef.org

UN High Commission on Human
Rights
www.unhcr.org

Amnesty International
www.amnesty.org

Youth Advocate Program
International
www.yapi.org
For More Information